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>Why does the flag have 13 stripes? The official answer: "because there were 13 original colonies." In fact, the flag has 13 stripes for the 13 original states.
by rm999 13y ago
>Why does the flag have 13 stripes? The official answer: "because there were 13 original colonies." In fact, the flag has 13 stripes for the 13 original states.
Maybe I misunderstand the point, but Delaware was the first state to be granted statehood in 1787, a full 10 years after the "Betsy Ross" flag with 13 stripes was in use. If you're going to write a super-pedantic article, you should be super-accurate too.
- 5555624 13y agoIn that case, though, the "Betsy Ross" flag was not the United States flag, since they were not states. Anyway, when the number of stripes was set at 13, it could very well be because of the 13 original states. After all, it was replacing a flag with 15 stripes. (When Vermont and Kentucky became states, both stars and stripes were added, so the flag -- of "Star Spangled Banner" fame --had 15 stripes.)